Apple and Samsung Fail To Reach Patent Agreement

In a development that should surprise nobody, Apple and Samsung were unable to reach an agreement in the companies’ court-ordered discussions.

According to The Korea Times, Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung and Samsung mobile division head Shin Jong-kyun met with Apple CEO Tim Cook, but the companies were unable to reach a settlement on their patent disputes. The lawsuit will now head to court in July, despite the reluctance of the two companies.

According to one Samsung official, both Apple and Samsung remained firm in their arguments. Samsung continued to demand that Apple pay royalties for its wireless transmission technology. Apple, on the other hand, continued to argue that Samsung copied the “look and feel” of the iPhone and other iOS devices with its Galaxy line of phones.

Before the talks, Shin Jong-kyun said that Samsung is “willing to offer a variety of solutions to the royalty dispute and mentioned cross-licensing.” There was no talk of cross licenses before Shin’s comments, and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung avoided reporters who asked about the talks.

Apple hasn’t made any comments on the discussions so far.

The court dates for the arguments will take place this summer, unless the two companies reach an agreement before then. Neither company wants to take the matter to court, but neither company is budging on their arguments. If the disputes do end up in court, we hope the arguments give us as much interesting information as the Google vs Oracle case did. It probably won’t, but we remain optimistic.